Fitch affirms GIB ratings

Manama, March 23, 2011

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Bahrain-based Gulf International Bank (GIB) and its subsidiary Gulf International Bank (UK)'s (GIBUK) long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at A, both with stable outlooks, short-term IDR at F1 and support rating at 1.

It has also affirmed GIBUK's individual rating at C/D.

GIB's IDRs continue to be driven by the extremely high probability of support from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia which holds a 97.2 per cent stake.

Fitch considers that GIB's IDRs are not currently constrained by Bahrain's country ceiling of BBB+.-TradeArabia News Service